Fall ArtWalk fills downtown Billings

Created on Thursday, 03 October 2013 19:21Published on Thursday, 03 October 2013 19:21

Galleries and businesses in the downtown will open their doors from 5-9 p.m. Friday for ArtWalk in downtown Billings.

New work by local and regional artists. Food and beverages, live music, and painting demonstrations will be featured along with the art exhibits.

The ArtWalk bus will begin its two-hour tour of the galleries, led by Renee Christianson, at the Good Earth Market at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Maps will be available at the participating galleries, or see Page 17 in this issue.

Highlights of the art exhibits include:

• Melissa Burns, aka GirlWood, will show her wood-burning skills at Big Sky Cheap Tees, 2911 Third Ave. N. Each piece of her art is directly drawn or transferred on to wood by hand and then a two “pen” 130-watt unit is used to burn each line and shade every area of the wood until the piece is completed.

• Clark Marten Photography, 2606 Montana Ave., will open its new downtown studio, just south of the Downtown Post Office, for ArtWalkers to enjoy on Oct. 4. Stop in and see the professional photographic talents of Clark Marten and his crew.

• The Apple Gallery at the Good Earth Market, 3024 Second Ave. N., will present “From Sea to Shining Sea” highlighting the photographic talents of Gary Castle. Castle will give a short artist’s talk at 6 p.m. His photos have been published in a number of publications around the U.S. including Worldwide News and the Colorado Cattlemen. He also owns a woodworking shop where he builds artistic rustic furniture. The deli special will be served from 4:30-7 p.m. along with live music. The exhibit may be viewed through Nov. 29.

• The Big Sky Blue Gallery, owned by Laura Anderson at 2702 Minnesota Ave., will be open for its first ArtWalk. Featured artists will include Dana Zier and Laura Anderson. Stop in to see their area paintings in oil and acrylic. Anderson will be taking portrait commissions.

• Sandstone Gallery will feature gallery artists William Crain and Madelein Bladow on ArtWalk. Ralph Scott, biologist, entomologist, scientific illustrator and photographer, will be the featured guest artist. He graduated from Ohio University with degrees in art/photography and zoology and then continued study in medical and scientific illustration at the Massachusetts College of Art and Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. He provided both the illustrations and color plates for the Field Guide to the Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets of the United States published in 2004 by Cornell University Press.

Curt Layman will be on hand to sign copies of his new book for children ages 8-14, “The Tree of Lights.”

• Three well known women artists will hang their art together at the McCormick Café. Jacquie Kittson, Linda Duncan and Jean Mehlhaff will exhibit through Oct. 31. Live music will be provided by Inner Voices from Seattle, Wash.

• The Northern Hotel will feature Stillwater Spirits, the fine jewelry of Cindy Lou Smith. The jewelry is made with natural stone and with natural healing powers.

• Neal Ambrose-Smith’s “Salish Yacht” will be on view at the Catherine Louisa Gallery, 118 N. Broadway, for ArtWalk. The artist often mixes tribal imagery and humor with current events and political issues. Neal Ambrose-Smith and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith have recently been added to the gallery’s list of contemporary artists.

• Jim Baken, professor of art at Rocky Mountain College, will exhibit his large elk paintings at the Billings Food Bank, 2112 Fourth Ave. N. As an artist, Baken explores the difference between light and dark, warm and cool, biomorphic and geometric, and then loads his work with images from art history, popular culture and unbound thinking.

“I suppose someone could say the paintings are a short record of the artist’s intimate thoughts as he comes to grips with the fact that he kills what he loves,” he says.

• Jim Nymeyer and Barjon’s Books will present a collection of fine art photography by Billings artist Andrew Thomas. The exhibit opens on ArtWalk and continues through November. The collection encompasses images from the Billings area, the Beartooth Mountains and Yellowstone National Park. Process oriented, compositionally gifted and deeply passionate about his craft, Thomas also incorporates cutting edge digital techniques.

“Halloween Lace” will be the spirited new show at Jens Gallery & Design, 2822 Third Ave. N. With a touch of mischief and merriment, Montana artists Sue La Fountain, Gerald Kindsfather, Kris Kramer and Connie Jens explore the colors, textures and images of the season and delve into the lore of Halloween.

Metal sculpture, photography, oil landscapes, hand-made fabric masks and jewelry will be showcased. For added intrigue there will be make-up demonstrations, haunting music, and other surprises that go bump in the night.

• Monsters! Monsters created with oils, watercolors, ink and crayon will be showcased by Jason Jam for the October ArtWalk at his studio on the second floor of the Carlin Hotel.

• Stop by the Stephen Haraden Studio, 2911 Second Ave. N., Suite 235, to visit with the artist about his latest collages/paintings and see other works in progress. ArtWalkers may also register for a free gift from his gallery.

• Level 504 will move across the street to the Quonset Hut at 421 N. 20th St. for the October ArtWalk. New space … new art … and an evening with artists including Sidney Ayers (wood), Charlie Haagenson (Western art), Hawk and Thistle (handcrafted furniture) and Justin Choriki (random art). Live music from 6-9 p.m. features the Anything Goes Bluegrass Band.

• Underground Culture Krew, 2814 Third Ave. N., will feature Roundup artist, sculptor and wood artisan Troy Evans. Evans has created a body of two-dimensional paintings called Architectonics, or creation of line delineated by texture, color and dimension. His work has been influenced by the sites, objects, and shapes seen in “the streets.” The show will include both two- and three-dimensional work created from a wide range of media. Regular artists in the gallery include Kristin Rude, Emma Prosser, Jenna Martin, Sheri Gustke, Nic Beckman, Vincent Sanchez, Michael Beaumont, Miriam Cross and Gloria Mang.

• Susan Germer will open her studio at 2501 Montana Ave., second floor, Suite 8 for the Autumn ArtWalk. She will present fine silver jewelry, original watercolor note cards, bead embroidery, paintings and more from 5-9 p.m.

• Purple Sage Gallery, 2511 Montana Ave., and R Tompkins Fine Art, 120 N. Broadway, are two stops on the Oct. 4 ArtWalk. Robert and Gayle Tompkins will feature a different artist at each gallery among their regular artists that include John Felten, Dione Roberts, Tana Patterson, Susan Germer, Janet H. Bedford, Shirle Wempner, Thomas English, Carolyn Thayer, Neil Patterson, Michael Stanish, Susan Stone, Julie Karnos, Jerry Inman, Brenda, Wolf, Diana Mysse, Phil Smith, Steve Schrepferman and Kathleen. Purple Sage Gallery will showcase the work of Bonnie Zahn Griffith, who is a plein air painter and landscape artist who works mostly in pastels, oils and monotype printing. From Miles City, she is the president of the Northwest Pastel Society. R Tompkins Fine Art, 120 N. Broadway, will introduce ArtWalkers to watercolorist, paper maker and collage artist Barbara Kuxhausen. A resident of Casper, Wyo., having moved there from Chicago, she has exhibited with the American Watercolor Society. Of her work she writes, “A watercolor painting is like a short story. Get in, do it and get out.” Refreshments will be served at both galleries.

• Global Village, 2720 Third Ave. N., welcomes artist and playwright Connie Dillon for the Autumn ArtWalk. Her paintings reflect home environments at their best when providing comfort and sustenance. Global Village will have an evening devoted to fine paintings and treats.

• The Yellowstone Art Museum opens its doors with free admission for ArtWalkers. Stop in to see current exhibitions including Hallowed Absurdities by Ted Waddell, Immortal Glance: European Masterworks and The Elastic Past: Visual Interpretations of Life’s Early Lessons.

• Toucan Gallery, 2501 Montana Ave., will feature the work of three Billings area artists working in diverse media. Kenneth Jarecke, an internationally working and acclaimed photojournalist, will exhibit a new series of prints conceived especially for hanging in the home. Michael Fortin, a painter, will exhibit a series of paintings that depict his ongoing recovery from the stroke he suffered only three months ago. And Traci Wolff, an artist and designer, will exhibit a series of images screen printed on pieces of purposefully rusted steel. All of the artists will be in attendance at the ArtWalk.

• Guido’s Pizza will host local artist/designer/coordinator Rich Clawson and his exhibit “Category 300.” It will be Clawson’s first solo exhibit inside or outside of what was Grafix Studio/Level 504. It will include some of the GRAFIX Collection (art purchased by Clawson) and then some representative pieces of the more than 130 art projects he worked on at Grafix Studio.

• Fall colors abound at Kennedy’s Stained Glass, 2923 Second Ave. N. Stop in to visit with owner Susan Kennedy Sommerfeld. The 2013 annual Christmas ornament will be available to order.

• Gallery Interiors, 2702 Second Ave. N., will present contemporary-realist painter David Swanson, who works from his studio in Livingston. A native of Illinois, he interprets the Western landscape in oils and watercolors. Inspired by the American highway experience, Swanson says, “I’m fascinated by the debris of our culture and its people - especially old buildings, bridges and vehicles. I’m impressed by the enormous undulating linear quality of the American landscape, and I enjoy interpreting the seemingly permanent landscape caught in a fleeting instant, or as something moves across the face of it.”

• Stop by and visit with Jeremiah Young and his young energetic team at Marcasa Clothing, 104 N. Broadway. The stop offers music, designer clothing and photography.

• David Overturf and del Alma Gallery, 2507 Montana Ave., will feature Overturf’s original photographs, acrylic landscapes on canvas by Sarah Morris, and Kevin Kurth and his Print Haven Fine Arts lithography. Morris, painter of hypercolor Montana landscapes, says, “I hope you experience the feeling of your last road trip, hike, camping trip, or even the feeling of being a Montanan, because it is a beautiful feeling to possess.”

Visit www.artwalkbillings.com for more information or visit Billings Artwalk on Facebook to see images of the art.